Talk:Rheum

Dubious
The article says "Rheum from the eyes ... is called gound", however the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (6th ed, 2007) says the word gound is obsolete. (As does the 4th ed, 1993)

I agree. I have not been able to find any reference or definition for the word "gound"; including medical dictionaries. I suggest removal. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.91.150.226 (talk) 13:26, 4 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Also, the reference for it being called gound leads to a page where the only use of the word is quoting this article.LOL Rpm2005 (talk) 12:00, 30 October 2010 (UTC)

If the view is to remove the word 'gound', then it should be removed throughout the article. I'll do it now, but I will add the reference to the older word as well.

Evolution
I once read (don't ask me where) that rheum developed to help humans sleep. Rheum acts a sort of weak glue to hold the eyelids together during sleep and keep them closed. Is there any justification for putting this into the article? I know about Wikipedia's verification policy so I'm wondering if anyone else had read this as well.150.203.111.217 (talk) 14:12, 28 October 2011 (UTC)


 * I heard this too. I'm more than a little surprised that there's no mention of why rheum exists or is secreted. The body doesn't do these things for a chuckle. --Gwern (contribs) 02:56 18 December 2011 (GMT)

Optical Crustaceans
Really? I can't find a single instance of this term being used that doesn't link back to this article. 72.48.177.50 (talk) 21:06, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

"Sleepies"
I don't dispute that this is a term used by some, somewhere, but as an aged UK resident I've never encountered it, or heard anyone refer to rheum as anything other than "sleep."

(Disclosure, I hadn't known the term "rheum" either until today – I fell to wondering what the technical term for "sleep" was, and found it by searching Wikipedia (successfully) on "eye crust" which seemed a logical description. I'm now going to add links to this article under 'See also' in Sleep and Human eye, where I had previously checked unsuccessfully.)

I'd be surprised if there weren't more, probably regional, terms for this substance. Haven't time to research this just now, however. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 185.74.232.130 (talk) 09:55, 21 April 2016 (UTC)
 * My Mom always called them "Sleepy winks". ~  ONUnicorn (Talk&#124;Contribs) problem solving 18:56, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
 * While we're on the subject of nicknames for rheum, I believe the actor Marlon Brando called them sleep crystals
 * Nuttyskin (talk) 15:45, 21 August 2023 (UTC)

Rheum and Aging
I see no mention here of the common increase in rheum with aging. I suggest this be checked into. Ptilinopus (talk) 20:48, 1 November 2018 (UTC)

Eye Wappies
I'm unable find any reference to "eye wappies" in the references or otherwise, so I have removed it. Please add it back if a reference exists. Ayenaee (talk) 19:50, 17 July 2019 (UTC)